Vote for the top Government news story of 2011

2011 was a momentous year in Federal Government-related news and as such, it was a banner year for important Government publications, as demonstrated by our 2011 Year in Review collection available from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO).

But which Government news story was the most significant, in your opinion? Vote in our poll below, and then see the publications that follow that relate to these important stories:

Note 1:As of January 27, 2012, this poll is NOW CLOSED with the final results showing above, but feel free to click on the SHARE THIS link to pass on the results to others.

Note 2: This is a non-scientific user poll. Results are not statistically valid and cannot be assumed to reflect the views of the Government Printing Office customer as a group or the general population.

Following are the Federal Government publications that relate to each of these important 2011 stories:

2011 News Story

Related Federal Publication(s)

9/11 tenth anniversary

Ten years have passed since that tragic day, but the memories are still strong. 2011 saw some excellent publications about that day, including a 10th anniversary edition of Pentagon 9/11 and a reprinting of the 9/11 Commission Report, all of which you can find in our 9/11 Collection: A Decade of Remembrance.

The recent death of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il, marks an uncertain time for the Korean Peninsula and the entire region. North Korea: A Country Studyreviews the history and the dominant social, political, economic, and military aspects of contemporary North Korea before this.

In January of this year, the National Commission on the BP (British Petroleum) Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling released its controversial Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling, Report to the President, January 2011. This best-selling publication offers the fullest account available of what happened in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010 and why, and proposes actions, changes in company behavior, reform of government oversight, and investments in research and technology that will be required to avert future disasters.

Natural disasters were big in the news this year, and the Federal Government was involved in responding to them, from the National Guard in the U.S. to foreign response teams overseas. For example, in response to the tragic earthquake and resulting tsunami and nuclear reactor problems in Japan, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) that included disaster response experts, urban search and rescue teams, and nuclear experts from the U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Field Operations Guide for Disaster Assessment and Responseis used by USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) for DART teams and other disaster assistance personnel when responding to foreign disasters like the Japan situation.

2011 marked the end of NASA’s three-decade long space shuttle program when, on July 21, the final space shuttle mission ended with the shuttle Atlantis rolling to a stop at its home port, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA has published a number of terrific books about the program which you can find in our NASA and Space Shuttle Publications, along with a new set of beautiful color bookmarks, one for each shuttle and the best-selling Wings in Orbitbook.

About the Author: Michele Bartram is Promotions Manager for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Division and is responsible for online and offline marketing of the US Government Online Bookstore (Bookstore.GPO.Gov) and promoting Federal government content to the public.

Thanks, Peg. So sorry you’re encountering difficulties. Unfortunately, that is a function of the WordPress software platform that is affecting many blogs. We’ll send them some more comments and hope it can be corrected.

The end date was established by the Bush administration and brought into fruition by the Obama administration.

The reduction of armed forces facilities in the US that cost at least twice what was touted, has been one of the causes of the state of the economy we’re in now. Let us stop being the world’s savior. Remember what has happened to Portugal, Spain, England, Rome. Nations rise and fall it appears that the present make up of our Congress is in the process of putting us on that downward tumble.

Along with the last flight, an era of exploration may have an end, – temporary curtain though. But mankind’s effort of knowing can’t be brought to an end in such way. Mankind will find out its own course of way in eternal search of knowledge. Space! – The inevitable horizon is still yet unexplored to a great extent. Still yet many important things have to be known.

It’s rather difficult to come across blog posts like these since there is certainly not much description given online. I would like to thank you for the time you to write this. I’ll visit from time to time planning to read your new articles.

I chose the Space Shuttles last flight.. wars, earthquakes, budgets, terrorism will probably continue to one degree or the other, will be next years news, the next and so on.. but the final flight of the shuttle brings a era of space exploration to a end and perhaps the omen that the last flight may bring about the end of mans desire and ability to explore and gather knowledge about himself and the universe he lives in….

Thanks for your thought-provoking comments, Larry. You are so right… It was very hard to put together the list this year since there were so many significant stories. Does anyone out there know of any topics we may have left out?

The most important federal story is the total collapse of the two party system of government. The inability to get just about anything done is a shame that the congress will have to work hard to erase.